Reincarnated Hero System

‘The heck is this? Some star-crossed lovers situation?’

Though he thought that, Evan could tell that Arthur likely saw Rachel as more of a sister than a romantic interest.

‘But even so, he cares about her, and now he’s discovered she’s on the path to becoming something he’s trying to destroy…’

Evan could not relate to Arthur as he’d never been in a similar situation, so the most he could do was offer silent support.

“Stage 1 involves the initial infusion of ‘Blank Race Factors’. It’s meant to enhance physical and magical capabilities, setting the groundwork for further stages. Rachel’s already there, which means she’s deeper in this mess than I thought.”

Blank Race Factors were a thing Evan had heard about before (Refer to Chapter 708), so he understood how it could be used in such an experiment.

“And Stage 2 and 3?”

“Stage 2 escalates the subject’s power and control. At this point, they can interfere with the target’s mental state if they wish and the person wouldn’t be able to stop them.

Stage 3 is the final transformation, where they fully integrate the Divine Factors—at that point, they’re essentially unrecognizable from true Divines.”

Evan nodded slowly, processing the implications.

“Is she aware of the risks?”

“Who knows? I doubt she is, but even if she was, a part of me feels that she’d still go ahead.”

Arthur’s reply was a result of knowledge of Rachel that Evan didn’t have, which was understandable as he’d just met her less than an hour ago.

“Don’t worry about it. I’d knock sense into her if it comes down to it.”

The godslayer spoke as he collected the folder back from Evan, before looking at the Hotel restaurant and deciding his order.

As for Evan, he just shrugged, not feeling any desire to involve himself in the situation since he was barely acquaintances with the girl.

Two days passed in a causal manner, and the boys spent their time in the Sloklens Region of Gledea, waiting until Rachel contacted Arthur with good news.

◇　◇　◇

On April 5th, Arthur and Evan returned to Rachel’s apartment to review the information she had uncovered. Despite the underlying tension from their previous meeting, Arthur maintained a friendly demeanour, as if nothing had happened.

Evan observing on the side, noticed that Arthur’s casual attitude seemed to make it difficult for Rachel to address certain topics she clearly wanted to discuss.

‘He’s doing it intentionally.’

His gaze drifted to the files Rachel had gathered on the woman responsible for the deaths of twenty Demon soldiers.

First off, she was NOT the owner of that dog tag, but the mother of its owner.

Unsurprisingly, the owner was dead.

“Her name is Margaux Bonnet, former head Alchemist of the Starlight Fortress. The dog tag belonged to her son, Late First Lieutenant Marcel Bonnet. He was killed several years ago during a frontline battle.

As you suspected, he was affiliated with the Starlight Fortress and was engaged with the army of a Demon General when he met his end.”

Rachel explained as she pointed at the picture of the Demon General, and Arthur silently shook his head, indicating he didn’t recognize who they were.

“The Demon General was eventually killed as well, but that’s beside the point. What matters is how Marcel died—his heart was eviscerated.”

Arthur and Evan exchanged a knowing glance. They recalled the projection Arthur had recreated of the crime scene, where Margaux’s summoned spirit had similarly ripped out the heart of a demon.

‘Revenge.’

‘Definitely Revenge.’

The two boys had the same thoughts, turning their attention back to Rachel who explained the last piece of news on Margaux.

“Margaux disappeared three years ago and has not been seen since. If the person in this photo is indeed her, it poses a serious problem. Where did this murder take place?”

When Rachel asked this, Evan threw the baton to Arthur who, surprisingly, did not hesitate to tell the truth.

“Somewhere within Demon Territory. Her target likely fled there to evade her, but she tracked them down and…”

Arthur put his hand in his subspace and revealed a half-cut picture of the corpse, and Rachel’s eyes widened as she saw the blood on their chest.

“…thank the gods I’ve already eaten today.”

Rachel’s words made Arthur laugh, but the girl silently moved her gaze from the picture to him before asking.

“The fact that you’re investigating this means you’re entering Demon Territory, right?”

“Yep. Wouldn’t be the first time. Don’t forget that I went to Zefesh.”

“And you barely got out before the Triton’s Ark fell and a Four-Star General attacked! Arthur, do you not care for your safety?”

Rachel’s words came from a place of genuine concern, and hearing it, Evan silently thought Rachel might be better off focusing on Margaux’s safety rather than Arthur’s.

“I care for my safety. But don’t forget, I have my ways of survival.”

“Arthur, even with time magic, you can’t undo losing your head in an instant. Do you have any idea how many soldiers I’ve seen die that way right from the start of battle?”

When Rachel said this, Arthur just laughed and spoke a line that left both her and Evan confused.

“Pfft…you’d need to decapitate me six times to decapitate me once.”

“…the heck?”

Evan asked on behalf of both of them and Arthur merely laughed again, then began packing up the files. As he did, he noticed something new on Margaux’s profile.

“Hey, Evan. Check this out.”

“What?”

Leaning in, Evan looked at what Arthur was pointing at; a record of Margaux’s Unique Skill.

“Vengeful Spirit Summoning…?!”

Evan’s eyes widened in recognition, recalling the spirit-like creature Margaux had summoned to tear out her demon target’s heart.

Arthur and Evan exchanged a knowing look, both coming to the same conclusion—that the spirit was likely the summoned essence of Marcel Bonnet, reinforcing their theory of revenge.

It made the Revenge theory a lot more concrete.

“Where did Marcel die?”

Evan asked this and Arthur quickly flipped to that page of the records, noting the battle he had fallen on.

‘I’m gonna go ask Alvey.’

They got all the details they needed down, so it was time to take their leave so they could plan how to catch Margaux.

Rachel wasn’t in her best mood, since Arthur was going so soon and to somewhere dangerous even though she wanted to spend more time with him.

Seeing this, the boy said he was going to visit again soon, before pulling her into a hug and whispering one line in her ear.

“Please, stay away from those life-eating “Curses”.”

Arthur and Evan left Rachel’s apartment and returned to Militopolis after that, where they updated Alvey on their findings. With access to the Gozonian Army’s database, Arthur uncovered the full story behind Marcel’s death and Margaux’s quest for revenge.

Marcel had died after his platoon clashed with the now-disbanded Platoon 471 under a deceased General, but since Margaux did not know which particular Demon had killed her son, she was going around killing all the surviving members.

Over the years, ten of the fifty demons had died naturally, and Margaux had already eliminated twenty more. It seemed that her three-year disappearance had been spent tracking down the remaining members of Platoon 471.

Understanding this, Arthur devised a plan to capture Margaux, enlisting Alvey’s assistance.

First, they located the remaining twenty demons from Platoon 471, who were already under surveillance by the Military Police.

Arthur and Alvey cast a “conditional spell” on each of them, programmed to activate under specific circumstances—namely, when the target was ‘harmed by divinity’, a signature trait of Margaux’s attacks. Arthur used his own divinity to test its effects and they worked fine.

If Margaux harmed any of them, meeting this condition, the spell would forcibly teleport both Margaux and the demon to a predetermined location.

Alvey’s part in this was casting the Spell to automatically activate, the forced teleportation

When they got to this part of the plan, Evan offered some help as well.

Evan used his Track Down skill to mark all the demons, enabling him to immediately detect any teleportation events.

With everything in place, all they had to do now was wait for Margaux to strike again.

◇　◇　◇

Evan spent his time playing as many games as he could, as if trying to make up for the years without them.

Arthur seemed to have pretty much everything in his subspace, and he carried a large number of portable consoles and games.

Evan didn’t take long to recover his rusty skills, and even the new games he had never heard about before looked terrifyingly easy in his hands.

Make no mistake—they were NOT.

In such a manner, two days passed and the date changed to April 7th.

This day was a big day for the Gozonians on Gledea, with hundreds of High-Rank demons from all over the continent gathering to meet with the new reinforcement High-Rank Demons.

For the reinforcements of Gledea, Militopolis was the location chosen to welcome them. A small event for them to familiarize themselves was planned and in attendance were all the Generals and the majority of the High Ranked Demons on Gledea.

Naturally, Arthur was included in this lot and he brought Evan along with him as an aide, keeping the boy close in case Margaux took action.

‘It’s a good time for her to take action, after all…’

Such were Arthur’s thoughts and Evan didn’t seem to mind since he could continue playing his games even during the event.

Evan got a pair of Demon Army Uniforms tailored for him, and when he glanced at the Uniforms, he noticed that numerous defensive and healing magic enchantments wired into the threads.

And they were all High-Level too!

According to Arthur, even these high-level enchantments had their limits, recalling a situation where someone had been gravely wounded despite the powerful enchantments.

“Just what kind of being attacked her?”

“A Transcendent. Don’t forget these enchantments scale with the wearer’s strength.

They offer protection, sure, but if someone stronger keeps hitting hard enough, they’ll eventually overwhelm them.

In that Demoness’s case, the attacker’s sheer power overloaded everything at once.

He’s not one of the strongest Aramisians for nothing.”

Arthur’s response made Evan reflect on the stories he’d heard from the two demons on the 3rd—tales of Arthur surviving an encounter with a Level 900 foe.

‘Must be that Duskhand guy.’

Just then, he saw Arthur tap a ring on his right index finger and instantly all of Arthur’s energy signatures vanished, making him appear like an ordinary, powerless boy.

Intrigued, Evan quickly tried to appraise him, but as expected, it didn’t work.

‘So that’s the story behind it.’

Such thoughts crossed his mind as he saw Arthur heading into the hall where the other Demon Generals were gathered.

He greeted those he knew and engaged in casual conversations. His popularity with the female demons caused some light-hearted jealousy among the male demons, but it was all in good fun.

Evan, curious about Arthur’s relationships, discovered that female demons saw Arthur as someone to admire from a distance but not approach romantically.

‘I mean, he has a Fanclub and all.’

The atmosphere shifted when McEnda III called for everyone’s attention and proposed a bet. He pulled out a dark red crystal radiating Universal Law energy—an Annihilation Law Crystal that had the potential to significantly boost one’s law comprehension up to the Mid-Tier Deity Level.

The sight of the crystal excited many demons, especially a recently transcended one who had been seeking such a crystal without success.

‘Wow, the magic power is off the charts.’

Evan searched his inventory, retrieving the crystals he and Eliza had acquired on their journey to the Cavern of the Frozen Harbinger, where they had fought Silverwing.

He wanted to compare them with the ones McEnda held, but before he could, a demoness swiftly caught his wrist, shoving the crystal back into his inventory.

“How you got your hands on that, I don’t know but don’t even think about flashing it around in a hall full of Transcendents.

That’s our ticket to higher power, after all.”

With a firm pat on his back, she sauntered off, seamlessly blending into the crowd as she made her way toward the excitement of McEnda’s proposed bet. Evan stood still, her warning echoing in his mind as he silently stowed the crystals away.

He cast a glance at the woman, noting the three stars on her uniform signifying her rank as a Lieutenant General.

‘Aravae Magmyar…The name’s not familiar.’

Meanwhile, Arthur was examining the crystal McEnda brought out, verifying its quality and heightening its value in the eyes of the other demons.

It was then that McEnda revealed his conditions for the bet: he wagered that some of the newly arrived Demon Generals would find trouble with Arthur.